Breast cancer still breaks bodies, upends families, and tests our faith. It does not care who you are. It touches women in every country, and yes, it affects men too. The difference in 2025 is that we know more, we can find it earlier, and we can save more lives when we act.
Message from the Chairman
The global picture is stark. In 2022, an estimated 2.3 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer and about 670,000 died. That is one in twenty women facing this disease at some point in their lives. If current trends continue, by 2050 the world will see roughly 3.2 million new cases and 1.1 million deaths every year. Those losses will fall hardest on communities with fewer resources and less access to screening and treatment. We do not have to accept that future. We can change it with awareness, prevention, and timely care.
Here in Japan, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. It is also a leading cause of cancer death for women, accounting for an estimated 10 percent of female cancer deaths in 2024, behind lung and pancreatic cancer. Early detection matters. When breast cancer is found at stage I or II in Japan, five-year survival now exceeds 90 percent. Those are not just numbers. They are years added to a mother’s life, a partner’s life, a friend’s life.
We have progress to celebrate, and gaps we must close. Japan’s target is a 60 percent screening participation rate, yet national surveys show participation around 47 percent in recent years. That shortfall means too many cancers are found later than they should be. It is on all of us to change that.
Run for the Cure® Foundation Japan exists to push those numbers in the right direction. Your support funds outreach, education, and access to high-quality screening and timely treatment. The mammography units we helped place have already led to earlier discoveries and better outcomes. That is the power of a community that refuses to look away.
If you are a woman aged 40 and over, schedule your mammogram. Put it on the calendar, keep the appointment, and encourage a friend to come with you. If you are younger but at higher risk, talk with your doctor about the right time to start. If you are a man with a family history or notice a change, do not ignore it. Breast cancer in men is rare, but real, and early care saves lives.
I am a breast cancer survivor. I wake up grateful for early detection, skilled clinicians, and the people who stood with me. I do not spend my days worrying about what might return. I spend them working so that more people will survive, and fewer will be lost. That is our mission. That is our promise.
With gratitude, and with resolve. Always.
Vickie Paradise Green
Chair, Run for the Cure® Foundation Japan
“When breast cancer is found at stage I or II in Japan, five-year survival now exceeds 90 percent. Those are not just numbers. They are years added to a mother’s life, a partner’s life, a friend’s life.”
